A Jane Strong outing can be counted on never to disappoint, and it is always enjoyable to spend time with her in the field because of her wide knowledge. It was late May/early June two years ago when I last visited the Mt. Pinos region and I was interested to see how different it would be in August, so I joined a group of about 15 interested wildflower enthusiasts to check out the meadow near the Chula Vista parking area, and later hiked up the 2-mile road to the top of the mountain. At 8,831', the summit of Mt. Pinos is the highest point of Ventura County. The Chumash people called it Iwihinmu and considered it the center of the world. It is one of the most popular astronomical viewing areas in Southern California due to low light pollution and dry air, and the parking area is often filled on weekends with recreational vehicles and large telescope arrays. The summit region is largely covered by a jeffrey pine/white fir forest, montane chaparral, rabbitbrush scrub and alpine fell-fields. Aside from the meadow, which itself was beginning to dry out, it was pretty dry among the pines and around the stony summit, and nothing of special interest was seen, but it was still an enjoyable day, and I did find one new species and another that I had never seen before in bloom. An upside-down V next to the common name indicates a species that was new to me when I photographed it on this field trip.

Common madia
Madia elegans
Asteraceae

Martin's paintbrush
Castilleja applegatei ssp. martinii
Scrophulariaceae
[Named for Domingo Castillejo Muñoz, 1744?-1793, and Elmer Ivan Applegate, 1867-1949]

Prickly poppy
Argemone munita
Papaveraceae

Twiggy wreathplant
Stephanomeria virgata
Asteraceae

Parish's lupine
Lupinus latifolius var. parishii
Fabaceae
{Named for Samuel Bonsal Parish, 1838-1928]